Adventurer Tony’s desert trek after donating kidney to wife

IN A week, he walked 150 miles through the Draa Valley of Marrakech, along the heights of the beautiful, snow-capped Atlas Mountains before descending 13,000ft through Morocco’s Tizi’n’Tichka passage where he met with the sleek and isolated dunes of the Sahara Desert.

IN A week, he walked 150 miles through the Draa Valley of Marrakech, along the heights of the beautiful, snow-capped Atlas Mountains before descending 13,000ft through Morocco’s Tizi’n’Tichka passage where he met with the sleek and isolated dunes of the Sahara Desert.

But when 68-year-old action man Tony Wade returned safely home in time for Christmas, he slipped awkwardly and twisted his ankle while shopping with his wife in Merthyr Tydfil – putting his next incredible adventure on hold.

“She is always telling me to slow down!” explained the Dowlais globetrotter, who, not only conquered one of the world’s harshest deserts last month, but did so after selflessly donating a kidney to his partner six months earlier.

“It’s quite ironic and very typical of me. I go about things a lot faster than I should – I always have to do it all at 90mph.

“But that’s life, I suppose. Now, the plan is to get my ankle well again before I try for my next challenge.”

Tony raised £1,350 during the inspirational tour of Morocco with his daughter Bev.

The money will go towards the transplant unit at the University Hospital of Wales, Heath, Cardiff, where he and his wife, 64-year-old Bette Wade, underwent their kidney transplant a year after she went into renal failure last June.

“I am extremely proud of what my daughter and I have achieved,” Tony continued. “The Sahara was a fantastic experience. For the whole time we were there, we saw only one other person. It was peaceful – absolute solitary.

“Walking in such peaceful places, you can lose yourself in your thoughts. At night, it turns pitch black because there’s no artificial light. The starry skies are very surreal.

“One night, we stayed up until 2.30am to watch a meteor shower. It was amazing.”

Since his return to Merthyr, his doctors were delighted to discover the tour had not taken its toll on Tony’s body.

But he won’t stop there. Tony is already planning yet more adventures with his daughter in 2013.

After experiencing both the Sahara’s searingly-hot days and freezing-cold nights, he now has his sights on a brand new challenge.

Once he regains his fitness, he wants to complete a seven-day, 780km pilgrimage to the French Alps along Northern’s Spain’s popular Camino trails.

“I was apprehensive before going to Africa because we didn’t train for as long as we have done for walks in the past,” he added.

“We couldn’t really start training until October because I was still recovering from the transplant, so we only had a couple of months of real hard training to see if I could do it.

“But I would like to try something different this time, now I have proven I can do it. My wife has always backed me when it comes to our treks and, as far as she is concerned, she thinks we should live our lives to their fullest.”

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